Gunners to rest van Persie

11 January 2008 11:09

Arsenal will rest Robin van Persie for Saturday's visit of Birmingham City after the striker suffered a recurrence of a thigh problem.
The Netherlands international has endured an injury-plagued season in which he has already missed two months with a knee ligament problem.
Van Persie picked up a thigh muscle injury in his second comeback game in mid-December and then lasted just 45 minutes of their midweek Carling Cup semi-final meeting with Tottenham.
The 24-year-old is also struggling with flu and will play no part in Saturday's fixture.
"There is no real news because he got flu overnight," Wenger told Arsenal TV.
"He is in bed and the doctor has gone over to see him. That means he is out for Saturday's game anyway.
"But we don't believe it is a real recurrence of the (thigh) injury and it might be minor."
Meanwhile, Wenger has revealed that Philippe Senderos will be given every opportunity to prove his fitness with fellow defenders Kolo Toure and Emmanuel Eboue away at the African Cup of Nations and Johan Djourou definitely ruled out.
"Djourou is out but Senderos has not been completely assessed by the medical staff yet," he added.
"We will know more about him on Friday. The options are those who played last night or Gilberto or Bacary Sagna. So we have players. Everyone else is alright."